US20130178346A1

US20130178346A1 - Balance plate with differentiated amplitude of swing

Info

Publication number: US20130178346A1
Application number: US13/346,284
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard Lin
Original assignee: LONG TRAIN ENTERPRISE CO Ltd
Current assignee: LONG TRAIN ENTERPRISE CO Ltd
Priority date: 2012-01-09
Filing date: 2012-01-09
Publication date: 2013-07-11

Abstract

A balance plate with differentiated amplitude of swing has a pedal, elastic supporting component, first axial supporting part and second axial supporting part. The pedal has a stepping surface and a bottom surface. The elastic supporting component has a footing end to be supported by the ground, and a fitting end to link with the bottom surface of the pedal. The first axial supporting part is fitted on the footing end of the elastic supporting component and configured along the first axial direction, so that the pedal can swing up and down along the first axial direction. The second axial supporting part is configured on the footing end of the elastic supporting component and configured along a second axial direction, so that the pedal can swing along the second axial direction. Said axial directions are perpendicular to each other. The axial supporting parts are in differentiated shapes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a balance plate, and more particularly to an innovative one which has differentiated degrees of swinging difficulty.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
A balance plate is a sport and body-building apparatus for the user to exercise body balancing.
Typical designs of conventional balance plates usually feature a pedal with a hemispheric supporting component fitted on its bottom. The hemispheric supporting component can be an elastic structure or a hard structure. Based on its spot supporting characteristics, when the user steps on the pedal, it will cause an unstable state with swing to various directions. Hence, the user must constantly adjust the stepping force of the left or right foot to keep the balance, and by doing so, the user's sense of balance is exercised. However, it is found in actual application that such a prior-art structural design is too difficult for new learners. Because all the directions are unstable, for those new learners with little experience and poor sense of balance, it is very difficult to for them catch the balance point and of course will fall to the ground very quickly. Moreover, during this process, injury may happen due to intensive or unsmooth twist of the ankles.
There is another kind of prior-art balance plate familiar to the public. It is a structure like a seesaw. The supporting component fitted on the bottom of the pedal is in the shape of a cylinder. When the user steps on the pedal, the swing happens only in one direction, while the other direction is fixed at a horizontal angle. Compared to the above described one, this kind of prior-art balance plate is indeed safer for the user, but relatively speaking, the usage is too monotonous.
Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement if the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve the efficacy.
Therefore, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention mainly features an innovative and unique structural design comprising a pedal, at least one elastic a supporting component, a first axial supporting part and a second axial supporting part. Compared to the known techniques disclosed in the prior arts, based on the differentiated shapes of the second axial supporting part and first axial supporting part, the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal at the first axial direction will be larger than the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal at the second axial direction. In this way, the balance plate can have the function and usage effect of differentiated amplitude of swing, and provides flexibility and safety during exercise of body balance. Such a practical advancement can greatly increase the interest and willingness of the users in body balance exercise.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial exploded perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial exploded plane view of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a first schematic view showing the operation of the present invention when the user steps on the pedal at the second axial direction.

FIG. 5 is a second schematic view showing the operation of the present invention when the user steps on the pedal at the second axial direction.

FIG. 6 is a schematic operational view when the user steps on the pedal at the first axial direction.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view wherein the center of the bottom surface of the pedal between the two elastic supporting components is further configured with a hard globular supporting component.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an implementation of the present invention with the elastic supporting component being a transversely positioned semi-cylinder.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 when stepping on the pedal in the first axial direction.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 when stepping on the pedal in the second axial direction.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the elastic supporting component being an elastic frame.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the two sides of the pedal configured with pulling rope components.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the elastic supporting component configured with a gas filling hole.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention with the elastic supporting component being in a sealed form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-6 depict a preferred embodiment of a balance plate with differentiated degrees of swinging difficulty as disclosed in the present invention. However, such an embodiment is descriptive only, and shall not intend to be limiting to the scope of the patent application.
Said balance plate A comprises a pedal 10, in the shape of a plate and with a stepping surface 11 and a bottom surface 12. At least one elastic supporting component 20 is provided, being an elastic structure, having a footing end 21 to be supported by the ground, and a fitting end 22 to link with the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10. Referring to FIG. 3, between the fitting end 22 of the elastic supporting component 20 and the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10, there can be configurations of matching male and female linking parts 201, 101 to link each other. The elastic supporting component 20 can be a hollow gas bag (the elastic supporting component 20 shown in FIG. 1 is a hollow gas bag).
A first axial supporting part 30 is fitted on the footing end 21 of the elastic supporting component 20 and configured along a first axial direction 31, so that the pedal 10 can swing up and down along the first axial direction 31.
A second axial supporting part 40 is fitted on the footing end 21 of the elastic supporting component 20 and configured along a second axial direction 41, so that the pedal 10 can swing up and down along the second axial direction 41. Said second axial direction 41 and first axial direction 31 are perpendicular to each another.
Moreover, the second axial supporting part 40 and first axial supporting part 30 are in differentiated shapes, so that the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal 10 at the first axial direction 31 will be larger than the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal 10 at the second axial direction 41. In this way, the balance plate A can have the function and usage effect of differentiated amplitude of swing.
Wherein, the elastic supporting component 20 can also be an elastic solid material or elastic hollow material (rubber, silicone etc), or, as shown in FIG. 11, the elastic supporting component 20C can be implemented as an elastic frame. Said elastic supporting component 20C is a hemispheric hollow frame, and the elastic supporting component 20C is configured with a locking slot 60 to assemble the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10.
Referring to FIG. 7, on the center of the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10 between the two elastic supporting components 20, a further globular supporting component 50 can be configured. The globular supporting component 50 can be of a hard or soft structure, and the extension length of the bottom end of the globular supporting component 50 is larger than the extension length of the footing ends 21 of the two elastic supporting components 20, so that the balance plate A becomes more difficult to meet the need of some specific users.
Referring to FIG. 12, the two sides of the pedal 10 are further configured with pulling rope components 70. Said pulling rope components 70 can be made up of a pulling handle 71, a rope 72, a connecting component 73 and a connecting part 74 configured on the two sides of the pedal 10 to match the connecting component 73. The connecting part 74 can be in the form of a through-hole (as shown in FIG. 12) or a clasp (not shown in the drawing) etc so as to connect with the connecting component 73. The rope 72 can be made of elastic material. The elasticity of the rope 72 can assist the user to obtain balance, and to exercise other movements like twisting the waist or stretching the arms.
Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the elastic supporting component 20 can be a hollow gas bag. Said elastic supporting component 20 made of a hollow gas bag can be configured with a gas filling hole 80 (as shown in FIG. 13), so that the softness of the elastic supporting component 20 can be adjusted to cater to different user needs. Or, as shown in FIG. 14, the elastic supporting component 20 can also be in a sealed form, so the gas inside will not leak.
Based on the above structural design, the present invention operates as follows.
Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 6, the elastic supporting component 20 can be of a hemispheric shape and be a combination of two arranged with an interval and attached to the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10. The footing ends 21 of these two hemispheric elastic supporting components 20 together form the first axial supporting part 30 (refer to FIG. 1 or 6), and the arched surface of the hemispheric shapes of the two elastic supporting components 20 form the second axial supporting part 40 (as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second axial supporting part 40 is indicated by a two-way arrow). Based on this, when the user steps towards the first axial direction 31 of the pedal 10, the swing amplitude will be larger than the swing amplitude generated when the user steps toward the second axial direction 41 of the pedal 10, so that the swing amplitude on the first axial direction 31 is smaller (as shown in FIG. 6), while the swing amplitude on the second axial direction 41 is larger (as shown in FIG. 5). That is to say, balance can be obtained more easily on the first axial direction 31 than the second axial direction 41.
Referring to FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the elastic supporting component 20B is a single transversely positioned semi-cylindrical shape attached to the central area of the bottom surface 12 of the pedal 10. Based on the transversely positioned semi-cylindrical shape of the elastic supporting component 20B, the columnar extension forms the first axial supporting part 30 (as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the first axial supporting part 30 is indicated by a two-way arrow). On the other hand, the hemispheric side of the elastic supporting component 20B forms the second axial supporting part 40 (as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the second axial supporting part 40 is indicated by a two-way arrow). Based on such a design, when the user steps towards the first axial direction 31 of the pedal 10, the swing amplitude will be larger than the swing amplitude generated when the user steps toward the second axial direction 41 of the pedal 10, so that the swing amplitude on the first axial direction 31 is smaller (as shown in FIG. 9), while the swing amplitude on the second axial direction 41 is larger (as shown in FIG. 10). That is to say, balance can be obtained more easily on the first axial direction 31 than the second axial direction 41. To summarize, compared to problems of the prior art where the user will fall to the ground quickly because of the instability in all directions and the user may easily get injured, the present invention provides a flexibility and safety in exercising the sense of balance, and therefore can greatly increase the interest and willingness of the users.

Claims

1. A balance plate with differentiated amplitude of swing, which comprises:

a pedal, in the shape of a plate and with a stepping surface and a bottom surface;

at least one elastic supporting component, being an elastic structure, having a footing end to be supported by the ground, and a fitting end to link with one fitting end on the bottom surface of the pedal;

a first axial supporting part, fitted on the footing end of the elastic supporting component and configured along a first axial direction, so that the pedal can swing up and down along the first axial direction;

a second axial supporting part, fitted on the footing end of the elastic supporting component and configured along a second axial direction, so that the pedal can swing up and down along the second axial direction; said second axial direction and first axial direction are perpendicular to each other;

moreover, the second axial supporting part and first axial supporting part are in differentiated shapes, so that the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal at the first axial direction will be larger than the amplitude of swing caused when the user steps on the pedal at the second axial direction; in this way, the balance plate can have the function and usage effect of differentiated amplitude of swing.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein the elastic supporting component is of hemispheric shape and is a combination of two arranged with an interval and attached to the bottom surface of the pedal; the footing ends of these two hemispheric elastic supporting components together form the first axial supporting part, and the arched surface of the hemispheric shapes of the two elastic supporting components form the second axial supporting part; based on this, when the user steps towards the first axial direction of the pedal, the swing amplitude will be larger than the swing amplitude generated when the user steps toward the second axial direction of the pedal.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein the center of the bottom surface of the pedal between the two spaced elastic supporting components is further configured with a globular supporting component, and the extension length of the bottom end of the globular supporting component is larger than the extension length of the footing ends of the two elastic supporting components.

4. The structure defined in claim 1, wherein the elastic supporting component is a single transversely positioned semi-cylindrical shape attached to the central area of the bottom surface of the pedal; based on the transversely positioned semi-cylindrical shape of the elastic supporting component, the columnar extension forms the first axial supporting part; on the other hand, the hemispheric side of the elastic supporting component forms the second axial supporting part, when the user steps towards the first axial direction of the pedal, the swing amplitude will be larger than the swing amplitude generated when the user steps toward the second axial direction of the pedal.

5. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the elastic supporting component is implemented in any style of a hollow gas bag, an elastic solid material, an elastic hollow material, or an elastic frame.

6. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein matching male and female linking parts are configured between the fitting end of the elastic supporting component and the bottom surface of the pedal.

7. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the two sides of the pedal are further configured with pulling rope components; said pulling rope components are made up of a pulling handle, a rope, a connecting component and a connecting part configured on the two sides of the pedal to match the connecting component.